The
Native Schools Act 1858 was passed. This act provided subsidies
for Māori education in the missionary schools.

Early mission schools taught in the Māori language, but
after 1847 were required to teach in English in order to benefit
from state subsidies. The Native Schools Act was only effective
for seven years, as the New Zealand Wars forced the closing
of schools in 1865. This brought with it the abandonment of
the mission schools.

In early New Zealand, Māori was the dominant language.
Early settlers and missionaries needed to speak Māori
in order to live, trade and work. After the signing of the
Treaty of Waitangi, and as more and more settlers arrived,
it gradually became no longer necessary for Europeans to learn
Māori. The situation changed, it was now the Māori
who needed to learn English.

1867

The
Native Schools Act 1867. Under this extension of the 1858
Act, the government offered state village schools to Māori
communities who so wished. In return, if the Māori community
provided a suitable site, they would receive a school, teacher,
and books.

The use of the Māori language in schools was actively
discouraged, in order to encourage assimilation by the Māori
into European culture as rapidly as possible. At first many
Māori welcomed the fact that schools were being taught
in English. Children speaking Māori in the home and English
at school, quickly became bilingual.

By 1896 the Māori population had declined to approximately
42.000, and it was confidently assumed that the Māori
race would assimilate into the European culture, and simply
disappear. As a result, by 1960, only 26% of Māori spoke
Māori as their first language. Thanks to the campaigning
efforts of Sir Apirana Ngata, the Māori language became
a University subject in 1951.

Later, the third Labour Government established teacher-training
schemes for native Māori speakers.

From 1976, courses in Māori
language were included in the curriculum of 5 Universities
and 8 training school colleges.

In 1981 the first "kohanga reo" (language nest) pre-school
Māori language immersion programme was established, led
by Māori women. The aim was to make every Māori child
bilingual by the age of 5 years old.

By 1994 there were 809 "kohanga reo" schools established.
In 1985 the Waitangi Tribunal declared the Māori language
to be a "taonga" (treasure), to be protected under the terms
of the Treaty of Waitangi.

In 1987 the Māori Language Act declared Māori as
an official language of New Zealand. The Māori Language
Commission was also established, having for responsibility
to promote Māori as a living language.

The Broadcasting Act 1989 declared promoting Māori language
and culture to be a function of the Broadcasting Commission.

Radio and Television stations have been established, by
Māori, for Māori, and in the Māori language. Each
year, a National Māori Language Week takes place.

1900

The
Māori Councils Act, creating public health programs. Three
Māori leaders were prominent in bringing about improvements
in the Māori health area : Apirana
Ngata (organising secretary of the Māori Councils),
Maui
Pomare, a doctor who became the first Māori Health Officer
in 1900, and Peter
Buck (Te Rangihiroa), also a doctor, who became assistant
to Maui Pomare. These three Māori leaders brought about
significant improvements in Māori health and life. All three
became knighted.

They were educated at Te Aute College.

The Reverend
Samuel Williams established Te Aute College in 1854, opening
with 12 pupils. Samuel Williams was a missionary's son, and
was only 18 months old when his family emigrated to New Zealand,
in 1823.

Te Aute College was a church boarding school for Māori.
Later, students from Te Aute College, of whom Peter Buck,
Maui Pomare and Apirana Ngata formed the Young Māori Party
in 1902. The aims of the Young Māori Party were to seek
co-operation and assimilation with the "pakeha" (European).

1907

Tohunga
Suppression Act - at the instigation of Maui Pomare. Pomare
also helped establish two Royal Commissions dealing with Māori
land grievances.

1920

Peter Buck (Te Rangihiroa) nominated
first Director of Māori Hygiene. Many reforms in the area
of Māori health achieved.

The national school syllabus becomes
the same for both Māori and non-Māori children.

1929

State credit provided for Māori
farmers.

1935

The Native Housing Act passed.
Funded by the Labour Government in 1937.

1935

The Labour Government increases
spending on education. Secondary education becomes free for
all. The school leaving age is raised to 15 years.

1938

The Social Security Act relieves
the burden of those in difficulty. Family benefit assistance
added shortly afterwards. Health Services improved.

1951

The Māori Womens'
Welfare League is formed, aiming at involving local communities
in welfare. The problem of adequate housing for Māori begins
to be treated. The construction of homes increases, until by
1951 3.051 homes had been constructed, representing 16% of Māori
houses.

The majority of the Māori
workforce was unskilled in the 1950s. As a consequence, economic
hardship was more acute among the Māori than the European.
Only 6% of Māori held qualified positions in the workforce.
It was only in the latter part of the 1960s that training
programs and hostel accommodation in the cities became instituted
on a large-scale basis. At the same time the educational system
finally promoted Māori customs, history, and the Māori
language in all schools.

›
Tohunga :

A Māori priest, wizard, a man of knowledge. There are
a number of different types of tohunga : tohunga ahurewa,
an expert builder; tohunga ahurewa, a priest or religious
expert; tohunga whakairo, a wood carver. One image of tohunga
is that of a sorcerer, which was a force in Māori religion.
Maui Pomare sponsored a Tohunga Suppression Bill in 1907,
which became law until it was repealed in 1962.

Please be aware that this website is a personal
homepage. It would therefore be wise to cross check information
which I have presented here. A list of many official New Zealand
history sites may be found within my Links
section.